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Media contact: Selina Meiners, 202-720-3359
WASHINGTON, D.C. July 19, 2017 – The U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today
announced nine grants totaling more than $8 million to study and develop new
approaches for the agriculture sector to adapt to and mitigate the effects of changing
environmental conditions. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Agriculture
and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.
“We have to develop robust plants, animals, and management
systems that can flourish under challenging environmental conditions,” said
NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “We expect the outcomes of these investments
will support American farmers and producers, and ensure their profitability.”
AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program for
foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in
the food and agricultural sciences. The Agriculture
and Natural Resources Science for Climate Variability and Change Challenge Area
aims to provide risk management information and tools to enable land managers
to stay viable and productive, and reduce the use of energy, nitrogen, water, and
greenhouse gas emissions.
FY16 grants being announced today, by state, include:
Climate Outreach and
Extension:
- University
of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, $250,000
- New
Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, $249,900
- Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York, $250,000
- University
of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, $248,900
Climate and Land Use:
- University
of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, $3,414,911
- University
of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, $3,414,911
- Clemson
University, Clemson, South Carolina, $147,744
- George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, $35,300
- Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington, $49,260
Project details can be found at the NIFA
website.
Among the grants, a New Mexico State University project aims
to increase climate change literacy while supporting both adaptation and
mitigation activities for different and diverse groups through a comprehensive
program. A University of Florida project will identify and test climate
adaptation and mitigation in fruit and vegetable supply chains using a
holistic, systems approach based on crop, economic, and environmental modeling.
Since 2009, more than $150 million in research and extension
grants have been awarded through AFRI in support of efforts to adapt to and
minimize the impacts of climate change. Previously funded projects include a Kansas State University study
focused on developing grazing management strategies in the Southern Great
Plains to adapt regional beef production to changing conditions, such as heat
and drought, while reducing its environmental footprint. This work in the
Southern Great Plains will contribute to resilience and sustained productivity
in the beef industry. A Washington
State University study is dedicated to improving the sustainability and
integrity of water resources and ecosystems in the Columbia River Basin
threatened by dwindling water supplies, growing demand from multiple uses, low
oxygen, algae blooms, and reduced biodiversity. Understanding how the demands
on water resources are impacted by climate variability will factor into sound
public policy to improve water conservation and quality.
NIFA invests in and
advances agricultural research, education, and extension and promotes transformative
discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA support for the
best and brightest scientists and extension personnel has resulted in
user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that combat childhood obesity,
improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues,
increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate climate
variability and ensure food safety. To
learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates or follow us on Twitter @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAImpacts.
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